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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26950357">pining</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Random Drabbles [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Auror Draco Malfoy, Auror Harry Potter, Aurors, Drabble, F/M, Ministry worker Hermione Granger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:49:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>662</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26950357</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s another morning of paperwork. Not that Draco minds *too* much. Because Potter’s incompetence means that they’ll have a visitor...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Random Drabbles [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1463191</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>168</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>pining</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blessedindeed/gifts">Blessedindeed</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>No alpha or beta. Just some scribbles for you, dear Blessedindeed💙💙💙<br/>I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The past couple of mornings haven’t been the most exciting, but I consider the quiet a nice change of pace. Potter has been pushing us hard, case after case, and the latter half of the week has been all paper work. Catch-up paperwork. Because my partner doesn’t believe in the finer rules and regulations that demand the filing and processing of paperwork </span>
  <span class="s2">before</span>
  <span class="s1"> we start the next case.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Not that I mind—not too much.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Because—</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Harry, you can’t keep doing this!”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I force my lips to remain in a thin line as </span>
  <span class="s2">she</span>
  <span class="s1"> bursts into our office. Right on schedule.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I don’t know what you mean,” the Boy Wonder says. He’s lying. I hear the smirk in his voice.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Rubbish!” Granger isn’t fooled either.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I don’t look up. Train my eyes on my parchment. Study every last letter, spelling the words in my head.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Until...</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You could learn a thing or two about the importance of properly written and filed reports from your partner—thank you, Draco.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">My face jerks up against my will. Muscles a tense wall, guarding the rest of me that melts under the warmth of Granger’s chocolate-brown gaze. She’s gesturing the files in her hand in my direction, impossibly smiling at me, while glaring at my partner.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Smiling. At. Me.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">My throat tightens. Heart ceases to beat.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re welcome, Granger,” I manage to say.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her smile broadens and I’m caught in its golden rays, helpless and no longer in control of myself. I need to stand and cross the room to her. To see if there’s anything I can do to make her smile more. Trace the line of her jaw up to the mass of curls spilling around her shoulders. Wind a lock of hair around a finger. Sink my other hand into her tresses of brown silk.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Bend us both backwards.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">See if she’ll let me finally taste and see—</span>
</p>
<p class="p2">She turns and slams the small stack of files on Potter’s desk, and I’m yanked from my fantasies.</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">To find Potter smirking at me across the room. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And Granger’s delicate form fierce in her indignation. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Don’t let it happen again!” She’s on her way out the office before sliding me a look. An one more smile. “Have a lovely day, Draco.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You, too,” I answer, but it’s too soft or mumbled or clumsy for her to hear it.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Potter hums a sound that’s dangerously triumphant. “You can thank me anytime, mate.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Don’t know what you mean.” I shoot him a glare.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sure,” he scoffs, that smirk looking all the more feral. “Should I make even more mistakes this time? See if she’ll come back and ask you to do all paperwork from now on. Seeing as how </span>
  <span class="s2">you</span>
  <span class="s1"> ‘understand the importance of properly written and filed reports’.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Piss off.” It’s a childish and petty dismissal, but I’m looking back to my own paperwork again. My cocoon of safety. Where there’s no chance of rejection from Granger. Or making a fool of myself. Or—</span>
</p>
<p class="p2">“She likes you, you know.”</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">My neck twitches and I want to look up. Want to see if he’s serious. If he </span>
  <span class="s2">means</span>
  <span class="s1"> it.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But I already know he does. I know the difference between a Potter bluff and truth after five years of being partners.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He goes on. “Theo’s to the point of locking you both in some broom cupboard and leaving until you snog. I’m of the opinion something more subtle, like casual double outting to the park or some pints at the </span>
  <span class="s2">Leaky</span>
  <span class="s1"> will do.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I swallow hard.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Potter’s suggestion isn’t half bad.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll consider it,” I admit after a long stretch of silence.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tomorrow?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sure.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Everything in me flames and roars in cheers and anticipation. Years of watching and longing and quiet conversations and admiring and now—</span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">now</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1">...!</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Potter and I do our work in silence. I take extra care with every last form. I have a reputation of excellence and understanding with Granger to maintain after all. </span>
</p>
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